How is a hostile work environment defined in Oklahoma?

Posted By
Mazaheri Law Firm

We have previously discussed a couple different types of sexual harassment
or discrimination that can occur in the context of one's employment.
The first is that of quid pro quo harassment. This type of illegal activity
occurs when there is a specific this for that trade demanded from an employee,
such as sexual favors for promotion or in order to avoid the loss of a
job. While this type of harassment is more obvious, it is also less common.
More often, sexual harassment or discrimination claims are of the hostile
work environment variety that can be a bit less easy to identify immediately.

So, what actually constitutes a hostile work environment in Oklahoma? It
may be informative to begin with what a hostile work environment is not.
Supervisors who simply act like jerks to everyone, sporadic bad language
or inconsistent teasing likely do not rise to an actionable level. The
U.S. Department of Labor, however, does have some examples of what might constitute a hostile work
environment. Some behavior that might contribute to such an environment
may include unnecessary physical contact, discussion of sexual activity,
comments about appearance or physical attributes, demeaning or inappropriate
language or lewd or crude gestures.

As noted above, however, one or two instances of such behavior may not
be found to be egregious enough to constitute harassment. As a basic rule,
the DOL suggests two standards that must be met. First, the harassment
has to be based upon the victim's protected characteristics, such
as gender, race, ethnicity etc. Second is a two pronged standard that
requires that the behavior or environment is subjectively abusive to the
victim, and that, when viewed objectively, a reasonable person would find
the behavior severe and pervasive enough to create an abusive or hostile
environment.

As the above suggests, whether harassment has occurred based on a hostile
working environment theory will only be evident on a case-by-case analysis
of specific factors involved in each individual situation. As such, anyone
with a question as to whether they may have a cause of action for sexual
harassment may wish to consider consulting an experienced Oklahoma employment attorney.